Census Bureau Reports Nearly 6 in 10 Advanced Degree Holders

U.S. Census Bureau

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

TUESDAY, APRIL 20, 2010
Robert Bernstein
Public Information Office

Census Bureau Reports Nearly 6 in 10 Advanced Degree HoldersAge 25-29 Are Women
The U.S. Census Bureau reported today more women than men are expected to occupy professions such as doctors, lawyers and college professors as they represent approximately 58 percent of young adults, age 25 to 29, who hold an advanced degree. In addition, among all adults 25 and older, more women than men had high school diplomas and bachelor’s degrees.
The tabulations, Educational Attainment in the United States: 2009, showed that among people in the 25-29 age group, 9 percent of women and 6 percent of men held either a master’s, professional (such as law or medical) or doctoral degree. This holds true for white, black and Hispanic women. Among Asian men and women of this age group, there was no statistical difference.
The data also demonstrate the extent to which having such a degree pays off: average earnings in 2008 totaled $83,144 for those with an advanced degree, compared with $58,613 for those with a bachelor’s degree only. People whose highest level of attainment was a high school diploma had average earnings of $31,283.
Also included are data on the highest level of education achieved by a wide range of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics, including age, sex, race, Hispanic origin, marital status, household relationship, citizenship, nativity and year of entry. Historical tables provide data on mean earnings by attainment level, sex, race and Hispanic origin with data back to 1975, and tables on attainment levels back to 1940.
Sonia Collazo, a Census Bureau demographer, notes, “The attainment tabulations are the most detailed education-level data available from the Census Bureau. The data allow analysts to precisely track the education levels of the population, from the least to the most educated. In all, 15 levels are shown for detailed age groups by race and Hispanic origin.”

Full Census Bureau Release: http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/education/014731.html

Women Almost Match Men in Earning Bachelor's Degrees, Census Finds

The Chronicle of Higher Education
By Jill Laster
April 20, 2010

Women have nearly caught up to their male counterparts in achieving at least a bachelor's degree, according to data released on Tuesday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
About 29 percent of women 25 and older had attained at least a bachelor's degree in 2009, compared with 30 percent of men. A decade earlier, the proportions were 23 percent and 28 percent, respectively.
The census data are part of an annual survey measuring national educational attainment that the agency has conducted since 1947. This year's report on the data used a sampling of 100,000 addresses gathered as part of the Current Population Survey's Annual Social and Economic Supplement.
The pattern of women's academic achievement outdoing men's, on average, goes back more than a decade, and is now expressing itself in the awarding of both undergraduate and graduate degrees. According to the newly reported data, young women have widened the gap in achieving postsecondary degrees in the past decade. In 2009, 35 percent of women ages 25 to 29 held at least a bachelor's degree, compared with 27 percent of men. A decade earlier, the numbers were much closer: 30 percent versus 27 percent.

Full Story: http://chronicle.com/article/Women-Almost-Match-Men-in/65179/?sid=at&utm_source=at&utm_medium=en (Subscription may be needed)

The Boys Have Fallen Behind

The New York Times
By NICHOLAS D. KRISTOF
Published: March 27, 2010

Around the globe, it’s mostly girls who lack educational opportunities. Even in the United States, many people still associate the educatioYet these days, the opposite problem has sneaked up on us: In the United States and other Western countries alike, it is mostly boys who are faltering in school. The latest surveys show that American girls on average have roughly achieved parity with boys in math. Meanwhile, girls are well ahead of boys in verbal skills, and they just seem to try harder.
The National Honor Society says that 64 percent of its members — outstanding high school students — are girls. Some colleges give special help to male applicants — yes, that’s affirmative action for white males — to avoid skewed sex ratios.
A new report just issued by the Center on Education Policy, an independent research organization, confirms that boys have fallen behind in reading in every single state. It found, for example, that in elementary schools, about 79 percent of girls could read at a level deemed “proficient,” compared with 72 percent of boys. Similar gaps were found in middle school and high school.nal “gender gap” with girls left behind in math.

Full Editorial: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/28/opinion/28kristof.html?th&emc=th